The present disclosure generally relates to data communication mechanism between a smart card module and a terminal device and, more particularly, to a data security authentication system and related multi-function memory card and computer program product.
A smart card is made by embedding a smart card module in a plastic card. The smart card module can be realized by IC circuit, and thus the smart card is very thin, compact, and convenient to carry. In addition, since the smart card is difficult to fake, it may provide merits in security, such as authentication, integrity, privacy, and non-repudiation, when adopting a public key infrastructure (PKI). Accordingly, the smart card can be applied in many security fields, such as data transmission and transaction verification.
According to traditional data communication protocol between the smart card module of the smart card and a terminal device (e.g., a computer), a smart card reader is required for exchanging data between the smart card module and the terminal device. However, the smart card reader is not a standard built-in device for most computers due to the hardware cost concern. The smart card reader is typically connected to the terminal device via a USB connection port, but different smart card readers require different driver programs. Furthermore, the same smart card reader may require different versions of driver program when operating under different operating systems. Above restrictions cause inconvenience to the use of smart cards, and result in severe obstacle in the developing and promotion of the smart cards.
Nowadays, more and more terminal devices, such as mobile phones, notebook computers, and tablet computers, are designed to be more compact and portable. Under this situation, it is not realistic to demand the users to carry a USB smart card reader all the time so as to access the smart card when needed. Moreover, due to design consideration or volume restriction, some terminal devices even omit the USB connection ports, and there is not even possible for some terminal devices to have a built-in smart card reader. In the above development trend of terminal devices, the traditional smart card would inevitably become more inconvenient in use or even unusable.